The Water Magician

Ryo is not always engaged in combat.

Yes, the purpose of being here is for a 'slow life.'

If the slogan were, 'A slow life filled with battles that are always on the brink of death,' then no one would think about living a slow life in the countryside.

First, spices. I dried the pepper I collected, and finally completed black pepper.

This is very useful for meat dishes.

Also, the pepper that has been pickled or freeze-dried is sometimes called 'green pepper.'

In Southeast Asia, it is used as an ingredient in stir-fried dishes, but Ryo made green pepper by pickling it.

When I tried to freeze-dry it, it just ended up as a dried product...

I only achieved 'dry'... 'freeze' was ignored, and as a result, it was just a dried item.

However, the most satisfying has been the fruits.

The 'Ichizuku' that resembles figs, the 'Rindo' that looks and tastes just like an apple, and the 'Mango' that I recently found.

Up to this point, these were all listed in 'Plant Encyclopedia: Beginner Edition.'

However, there were also fruits not included.

Papaya, loquat, and surprisingly, watermelon!

While it makes sense that papaya and loquat grow wild, I never expected watermelon to bear fruit in the wild.

It was smaller than any type I've seen in Japan, with almost no sweetness, and before cutting, its appearance was more like a gourd than a watermelon... but when I sliced it open, the familiar red flesh appeared.

When I saw the red flesh emerging, I was so moved that I shed tears.

Though I also shed another type of tear due to its lack of sweetness.

But there was one major issue in living a slow life.

So far, I had not found a single detoxifying herb.

The fact that I couldn't find any despite searching means that the vegetation must be different.

There were no descriptions saying it grows well in cold regions...

The Forest of Rondo might be too warm, or rather, it could be said to have a tropical climate, which could be why it doesn’t grow here.

And that was true for soybeans, which I had initially worried about.

I couldn’t find soybeans either.

I managed to substitute soy sauce with fish sauce.

Although it was somewhat different from the soy sauce eaten in Japan, the difference was negligible enough that I thought, “If I look nationwide, there must be soy sauce like this,” so it was not a problem at all.

However, miso was another story.

Since I couldn’t obtain soybeans, I had already given up on miso...

And finally, there was the staple food: rice.

A certain project was in progress in my mind.

Project Name: Rice Paddy Improvement Plan in the Forest of Rondo

As the name suggests, it aims to improve the rice paddy and cultivate rice.

Previously, I had attempted to develop a rice paddy and failed.

Due to the absence of earth magic and tools to create a rice paddy, I had tried dropping icicle lances from the sky, or even exploding them like a steam explosion to reclaim the land, but that plan... ended in total failure, postponing the issue.

However, I would eventually have to face it head-on; it was an unavoidable problem.

And today was the time to confront it.

First, I secured a square piece of land measuring sixty meters on each side, right up against the barrier.

I erected ice lances at each corner and connected them with vines.

This was a substitute for a water line, a string to produce a horizontal line...

Yes, I intended to turn the inside of this vine into a rice paddy.

As a preliminary step in rice paddy development...

I would dig up the soil and break it into finer pieces to create a field-like state.

Then, I would supply water to moisten the entire field.

At this time, the ground still had holes in it, so no matter how much water I poured, it wouldn’t accumulate.

While pouring in water, I would mix the soil or mud with a tractor or oxen, effectively filling in the holes in the ground.

During the last attempt, I got stuck at this first stage of 'digging up the soil.'

"I'm not the same as I was before!"

This time, I was filled with fighting spirit.

“Ice Wall!”

I surrounded the inside of the vines entirely with an ice wall.